Telegraph key



May 29, 1934 A. H. EMERY TELEGRAPH KEY Filed July 22, 1933 (Ittorneg Patented May 29, 1934 UNITED STATES i i ii 1,966,236

PATENT OFFICE TELEGRAPH KEY Alfred H. Emery, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

Application July 22, 1933, Serial No. 681,684

3 Claims. (01. 17882) This invention relates to a telegraph key or transmitter of the hand operated type which is employed in the sending of messages in theiorm of dots and dashes, and one of the particular objects of the invention is to provide an instrument whereby the operator may send messages with less manual labor than that required with the instruments now in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an instrument of this kind means whereby the surfaces of the electrical contacts always contact over their entire surfaces, regardless of the normal gap between them, thus preventing the con tact surf ces from becoming pitted.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an instrument of this class a novel form of leverage whereby the ratio of leverage between the dot contacts and the dash contacts may be changed from a ratio of one to one, to a ratio of two to one, thus increasing the speed without losing the heaviness of the dots, and also decreasing the length of space between the dots and the dashes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spring connection between the key and the vibrator to eliminate the usual adjustments required.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the key lever and the vibrator lever are mounted on independent pivots, thus providing against loose connections.

My invention consists primarily in a key, a vibrator, and suitable electrical connections, by means of which the movement of the key in one 3;; direction closes the circuit to produce the dashes,

and the movement of the key in the opposite direction through a vibrator lever produces the,

dots.

The first movement of the key is used to send the dashes while the second movement sends the dots, and the length of the spaces and the dashes are thus determined by the operator, likewise the number of dots, which continue to be sent as long as the key is held in the proper position; but the length of the impulses which produce the dots and their rapidity are determined by the adjustment of the period of vibration of the vibrator.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel construction and combination of parts as will hereinafter be fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which like figures of ref erence refer to corresponding parts in all of the views, and it is understood that slight changes jam nuts 19; said screws 17 and 18 being placed may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

V In the drawing: a

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the instrument, showing the key lever in its normal position and with both contacts open.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, with a part of the base cut away to show the electrical leads or connections. V

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the key end and showing the key lever in section to illustrate the pivot mounting, taken on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows a detail view of the vibrator stop. 7

Figure 5 shows an enlarged detail cross sectional view of the key and vibrator levers and the spring connection between, taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing:

The instrument comprises a base 10 of metal or other suitable material mounted on the rubber feet 11, and formed with the upright posts 12, the yoke 13, and the stop post 14. g

The posts 12 are connectedtogether at their upper ends by a plate 15 securedthereto by the screws 16, and threaded through this plate 15 are the two pivot screws 17 and 18 which are formed with conical ends and provided with the on an angle with respect to the centerline of the plate 15 as shown, and in line with said screws 17 and 18, there are formed in the base 10 the two conical bearings 20.

The key lever 21 has secured to its outer end by the screws 22 the finger piece 23 and knob 24, and secured in said key lever 21 is the vertical pivot post 25 which is formed with the pointed ends 26 for engagement with the conical end of the screw 1'? and the bearing 20; said screw 17 providing the lever 21 with the proper tension.

The vibrator lever 2'7 is also provided with and mounted upon a similar pivot post 28 secured therein and mounted in the bearing 20 and the screw 18 in the plate 15.

The front portion of the vibrator lever 27 is provided with the two stop screws 29 and 30 which are threaded therethrough and provided with the jam nuts 31 either of said adjusting screws 29 and 30 adapted to be brought into contact with the key lever 21 to vary the gap between said levers 21 and 2'7; the tension between said levers being maintained by a spiral spring 32 having one end mounted in a recess 33 in the lever 21 and the other end adjustably mounted in a cup-shaped plug 34 which is threaded into the other lever 27, as shown in Figure 5.

In this manner the levers 21 and 27 are both operated by the finger piece 28 and knob 24 and by the use of either the screw 29 or 30 the ratio of movement between said levers 21 and 27 may be changed as desired. Both the key lever and the vibrator lever being mounted directly to a part of the base 10 are grounded in the electrical circuit, and an electrical contact is mounted on the side of the key lever 21, and contacts with a stationary contact 36 which is mounted ina post 3'7 secured to the base 10 by the screw 88 and insulated therefrom by the bushing 39; said contact 36 being retained in the post 37 by the screw 40.

The vibrator lever is divided into two parts; the part 27 being pivoted as described, and the part 41 being attached to the part 27 by a flat spring 42 secured by the screws or pins 43; while the body portion of the part 41 is round and is provided with an adjustable weight 44 held in place by a screw 45, while the end of the round portion 46 is provided with a rubber bumper 4'7, and for dampening the vibrations of the lever a stop 48 is provided which'is mounted in the upright post 14 by a screw 49, and said stop 48 is bent upward on an angle as shown in Figure 4, to effect an easy stop for the lever 46.

The dot contacts are in the form of a returnbend fiat spring 50 which has one end secured to the vibrator part 41 by the rivets 51 and the other end is provided with a suitable contact 52 of silver -or other material, which is so placed as to contact with a stationary contact arm 53 mounted in the upper end of the post 54 by the screw 55; the lower end of said post 54 being mounted to and insulated from the base 10 by the screw 85 and insulating bushing 56.

The instrument is supplied with the two binding posts 57 and 58; the post 57 being grounded to the base 10, while the post 58 is secured thereto by the screw '59 and insulated therefrom by the bushing 60 of insulating material.

The binding post 58 is electrically connected by a lead 61 to the post 54,and the post 54 is connectedby the electrical lead 62 'to the post 3'7; said binding posts 57 and 58 being connected in an electrical circuit by the wires 63 and 64.

The vibrator lever 27 passes through the yoke 13, and its movement is limited by the two adjusting screws 65 and 66 which are threaded into said yoke 13 in axial relation with each other and locked by the jam nuts 67.

The operation of the instrument is as follows- I lever.

The key lever 21 is grasped by the thumb and finger pieces 23 and 24, and moved in the direc tion indicated by the arrow A in Figure 1, which will compress the spring 32 and swing the lever 21 away from the stop screw 29 or 30 and close the contacts 35 and 36, making a dash.

The key lever 21 is then quickly moved in the direction of the arrow B, which will open the dash circuit and bring the lever 21 into contact with the stop pin 29 or 30 and move the vibrator lever 27 away from the stop screw 65 causing the arm 4146 to vibrate and the contacts 52 and 53 to make and brake to create the dots; the number of dots or vibrations made depending upon the length of time that the key lever is held by the operator in this position.

A movement in the opposite direction by the key lever 21, will cause the rod lever 46 to contact with the stop 48 which will stop its vibrations.

As the pivots 1'7 and 18 and the stop 29 are spaced an equal distance apart, and the stop 30 is twice the distance from the stop 29, it will be seen that 'as the instrument is shown in Figure 1, the ratio between the movement of the key lever 21 and the vibrator lever 27 is two to one, but if the stop 29 is backed off and the stop 30brought into contact with the lever 21, the ratioof movement between the two levers will be one to one.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patents, is:-

1. In a telegraph key, the combination of a key-lever and a vibrator-lever pivotedly mounted in staggered relation with each other, of means :1

key-lever mounted upon a pivot and adapted to.--

be recipro'cated thereon, of a vibrator-lever mounted upon a pivot adjacent the key-lever,

a spring located between said levers for placing tension thereon, a pairof stop adjusting screws to contact, one at a'time with the key-lever, and means for limiting thein'ovement of said vibrator ALFRED H. EMERY. 

